Should you invest in Gamification?

Posted on Thu, 02/09/2017 - 10:12

Any kind of investment deserves an ROI explanation, especially an investment in training. So, is spending on gamification justified?

The answer is a big resounding YES!

Research has shown that gamification enhances the overall performance of the organization and not just a particular employee. There is substantial data that proves that gamified training increases engagement amongst learners and helps them learn and retain better.

Benefits of gamified learning

Here is a snapshot of some benefits of using gamification in learning. Take a look and let us know what your thoughts are on these stats below.

Game play actually rocks! Some detractors may dismiss the game play factor as hype. But, in reality, it actually works. Karl Kapp provides hard data that shows that employee motivation was enhanced by almost 51.6% in a gamified environment. Learners preferred the gamified micro learning platform. The first hurdle is to get the employees of an organization to participate in gamified training. Once that is broken, the rest is a cakewalk.

Gamification keeps the employees engaged and motivated. Learners are totally immersed and focused in the course. As a result they are able to understand and retain the concepts better. They are also able to answer more questions, correctly.

Rewards are always important. Some people may believe that rewards have temporary impact on engagement. However, research shows that learners are willing to participate more if there are suitable rewards. A three-year analysis of 9.5 million sessions, on the Axonify microlearning platform, points out that employees visited the rewards section 75 to 100 percent of the time, and completed almost three times as many learning sessions. The flip side is that the lesser the employees visited the rewards page, the fewer the learning sessions they completed. Kapp also showed that tangible rewards can act as an incentive to motivate learners to participate in corporate learning.

Leaderboards have the same positive effect as rewards. Kapp’s studies signify that learners who engaged with the leaderboard more often had considerably higher participation rates than those who did not use leaderboards. And the most interesting finding is that female learners seem to be more engaged with leaderboards than male learners.

Game mechanics are more powerful if they are used in combination. Here is an interesting piece of data based on data extrapolated from 2.5 million interactions with six different game mechanics, on the Axonify microlearning platform, namely rewards, leaderboard, report card, badging, newsfeed, and gamescores . The data showed that all of the six game mechanics had a high correlation to participation. In simple terms, employees who are exposed to these six game mechanics have a high rate of participation on the platform. Similarly, employees who participate more often on the platform relate with these game mechanics most often.

The research is a great eye-opener. Gamification enhances participation in learning and results in higher levels of knowledge. The benefits are manifold. When the employees learn better, they perform better. They make the right decisions and exercise good judgment. The final result: a highly engaged, knowledgeable, and motivated workforce which results in a significant rise in the bottom line.